99 days! I DO need intervention.

Woohoo!  We're in the double digits!  

Now I feel I need to dig out all the bits & pieces I've collected to make the headstone peeker guy I wanted to do last year, and didn't.  Let's just hope I can find where the reindeer motor & all the rest of the stuff is!  

Following up from the last post....

Welcome Larry!  

I think he might need a plain green onesie so he matches Chuck instead of being naked. 

The grandson really likes Larry, so it'll be tough to keep him safe!

I picked him up from JoAnn Fabrics - where I learned that they offer a military discount!  

So that + sale + coupon I had to look around. 

OMG - DONKEY!  

How freaking cute is this?? 

I obviously bought it.  Along with a couple pairs of H'ween socks. 

I don't do unboxing videos or anything - which is good since look at this quality packing job from Target...

These are my penguins - one of which was decapitated. 

It looks like it should be fixable. 

Larry's little brother - to be named soon. 

The penguins are still really cute, tho!  

I'm glad I looked at the dimensions when I ordered so I wasn't surprised at the size.  

They're exactly what I was expecting. 

And because I'm a glutton for punishment - I put in another Target order. 

I couldn't resist their chicken!  So I got 2. 

And a roll of creepy cloth for the front windows. 

A cousin sent me a FB message - normally when I get a random message from someone I haven't talked to in a while, it's something cheesy that I've seen 100 times already.  

Not this time!

Oh HELLO!  

Last year, Tractor Supply didn't have any mention of H'ween on their website until mid-August - they're on the ball really early this year!  

I'm sure everyone has been the hilarious giant 6' chicken skeleton they have this year, but they also have a 3' rooster and slightly smaller hen!  

So I have an order in with them, too.  I'll be picking this stuff up on August 1.  

I've never seen a flock of chickens that were all the same kinds, so why not have a variety?

This donkey is similar in size to the cow & pony that I got last year. 

I stopped by Lowe's yesterday and picked up a 2'x2' sheet of plywood and some screws since I am going to make some blinders (for lack of a better description) for the major floodlights in the cemetery this year.  I'll make that its own post since I made a scale pattern out of paper and everything! 

Thankfully I keep a list of what I've bought and from where so I can keep track of what I have, what I need and when things should be delivered.

Now to keep me out of the stores / websites! 

Almost double digits!

Hidey-ho, friends & neighbors!

Have I just never noticed that people consider July 5 the beginning of Halloween season?  I sure saw a lot of memes & stuff on the socials saying so.  I don't remember seeing anything about it in the past! 

But that's OK.  It can be!

I also saw that Target released their H'ween stuff online yesterday. 

I always have to check out the skeletons, no matter what store I'm checking out. 

OMG

A PENGUIN!

I wish it was bigger than 10.5 inches, but that didn't stop me from ordering.  

More than one. 

3

The Spouse likes Penguins so that's my justification. 

I also got this guy.  

He's only 24 inches so he can be a friend for the rainbow one from last year 

(who is currently hanging off a planter at work)

I wish they had less-mean looking faces.  I might have to add eyebrows. 

Target also has otters!  

It's really cute, but I passed on it. 

Let's compare the chickens & goats from Target (seen below on the left) and Joann's (on the right)

Not gonna lie.  I like the chicken. 

The goat seems a bit wonky to me.  I'm not sure what it is. Maybe I need to see it in person. 

But then since I was on the Joann's site (for research purposes) I looked at their skeletons, too. 

Between their 40% off "sale" and another 25% online only coupon.....

Chuck is getting yet another new friend!  

This one is a 3' tall one.  I like his happy face!  I'll be going to pick him up after work today. 

I think I need intervention!

New additions!

So I didn't plan on getting anything new this year for the cemetery, but of course it happens....

As of a week ago, this is all Party City had in the store.  

There's a 12' jack o lantern guy behind the rack, too. 

Just tossing that out there, for FYI

I thought this was funny.

I was looking at Oriental Trading and darn - these got pre-ordered!

This is a raccoon - I think he'll need some paint added to make it more obvious what he's supposed to be. Around the eyes & tails for sure. 

The unicorn is smaller than the horse & pony, but he's still super cute!

And then I was checking out some threads on the HalloweenForum and I saw mention of disco skeletons at Party City, so I had to check out the website.....

OMG.  

I wasn't sure at first - but then I got a 20% off coupon code in my email so that sold me.

They have both 3' and 5' options.  I got the 3'.  

She's definitely not going to be a replacement for Chuck - she's going to be mainly for show.  I'll have to come up with a good drag queen name, since that just seems like what a disco skeleton should have!

Everything should be arriving the first week in August....

stay tuned!

IT'S SUMMER !!!!

 I set this to post exactly at 20:51 UTC, which is 16:51 EST, because why not post exactly on the equinox?  

That being said....

This freaking heat wave plays hell on a chubby girl!  

I hate to be sweaty. 

There was a moment of panic last night when we had a storm blow thru and our power flickered a few times.  I sure don't want to be without my A/C!  

I saw our only casualty this morning.

I planted my lilac not long after we moved into this house (22? years ago!) and one year it almost got flattened from a wet heavy snow, so the Spouse trimmed it back to a tree for me and it's been like that since.  Guess it didn't like the dumping rain and the trunk snapped just below the ground level.  It was only about 5 feet tall so it'll be an easy clean up.  

I'm glad I haven't been at any cemeteries recently so I am certain this handprint on my car came from the smaller of the grandkids and not anyone ghostly.   I don't know if I want to know what was on her hand to make dust stick so well thru multiple rains!?

Chuck got a new horse for the funeral procession thru the cemetery this year thanks to a neighbor!  

Of course the grandkids are having a good time with it until then.

I've been reading a lot of "Code Orange" posts lately on various forms of social media.  There just so happens to be an At Home store, Joann's & Michael's all close together, also close to my work. 

I was kind of disappointed, but I have to remember that it's early!

At Home looked to be in the process of stocking their shelves. 

I snagged this really cute ghosty blowmold. It's lit by 2 C7 bulbs.  I'll have to look at it after dark to see how well it lights up.  It should be good with the white plastic. 

Are the ads on FB true?  Is Joann's closing?  Of course the store I went in is usually pretty dumpy anyway, but they had a lot of flattened boxes everywhere and a lot of empty shelves. I really don't like how they mark up their prices and then give you "sales" or "coupons" to bring it back to a somewhat reasonable price.  This little guy (who I'd seen online and thought was adorable) was a lot smaller than I expected and was marked $35!!!  Everything was already 40% off so I sucked it up and paid $20 for him, only because he is so stinking cute! 

My tangent....they have a groundbreaker skeleton similar to the one Party City came out with last year - marked $500!!  and their 8 foot skeleton with LED eyes was $400!  Hard pass. 

Then the Michael's was a bust.  There might have been a few fall things out, but nothing that grabbed my attention enough to even walk down the aisle.  I did see this countdown online, tho.  

This is really neat, but I wish they had skeletons instead of witches. Or even ghosts! 

I'll have to make a run to the stores closer to my house.  They're in a nicer town and usually have better selections. 

OMG - did you see this at Tractor Supply?  

That's just entirely too hilarious!  

I personally wouldn't pay that for a giant chicken but I really want to see someone with one!  

I've seen a TSC thread on HalloweenForum and people were wondering which size skeleton would fit on the chicken's back better!

🤣🤣🤣

Chuck, what are you looking at??

The Canterbury Village Dino & Dragon Stroll

Back on May 18, I took the grandkids to see the Dino & Dragon Stroll in Auburn Hills.  

whoops, cut the top of the ad off, but you get the point!

We had a pretty good time.  The kids loved seeing the dinosaurs, since they're both on a dino kick right now. 

We got the last time slot of the day, so the everything was all turned off before we were done (with ice cream & potty trips & jumping in the bounce house, etc) which is great, since LittleMan was kind of freaked out by the noise, even tho I showed him the speakers and we could see where the vinyl was torn on some of them and the animatronics. 

BabyGirl wasn't fazed in the slightest.  

We took the stroller along in case someone got tired, but it ended up carrying Chuck and the backpack.

Some of the little stores were open there, so I got a black succulent for cheap. 

I was bummed that they didn't have signs like this for all the dinos!

Little Man was disappointed he didn't get to see a Pterodactyl, since they had plenty of places they could have displayed it, either up on a tree or on top of a building.   

Kewl!

The only thing I really didn't like is that they seem to equate dragons with Harry Potter, which I've never read nor seen.  I started watching one of the 250 movies in the franchise and since I have an issue deciphering strong accents, I had the volume turned up - then got blasted into the next room by background noise.  So I watched less than 10 minutes.  

Anyhoo, it was nice to get them outside to do and see something different!  

They're supposed to be having dinosaurs at the Detroit Zoo again this summer, we might have to go check them out!

Lookin' at You!